LSCB Diagnostic Guidance Manual

July 2015 Table of contents

1. Introduction and overview of practice diagnostic process 3
2. Basic stages in a LSCB diagnostic 5
3. The diagnostic team 9

Appendix 1 – LSCB lines of enquiry 11 Appendix 2 – Information health check for the LSCB diagnostic 15 Appendix 3 – Audit Validation (Recommended) 21 Appendix 4 – Key LSCB responsibilities 27 Appendix 5 – On-site programme 28 Appendix 6 – The feedback presentation 35 Appendix 7 – Final report 36

1. Introduction and overview of LSCB diagnostic process

This guidance manual is designed to help LSCBs, peer teams and managers of diagnostics to understand the ethos and aims of a LSCB diagnostic and how it actually operates.

The fundamental aim of the diagnostic is to provide LSCBs with an external view of the effectiveness and impact of the LSCB on safeguarding and protecting children in order to identify areas requiring improvement. The diagnostic is not an Ofsted inspection. While it will help with preparation for inspection its purpose is to help the LSCB reflect on its effectiveness and inform its future development plans.

There are three key principles that should be understood and accepted when considering whether to have a LSCB diagnostic:

- the focus of the diagnostic is on the effectiveness and impact of the LSCB across the full breadth of its statutory remit. The diagnostic uses as its framework the facets of effective practice as described by the Association of Independent LSCB Chairs. Appendix 1 sets out the key lines of enquiry of the diagnostic which reflects this framework and which will be used in the review of documentation and to inform the discussions with LSCB partners during the on-site work

- It is essential for the success of the diagnostic that the LSCB and the peer team work together in an open and honest manner that jointly identifies both the strengths and the areas for improvement in the areas of LSCB

- the diagnostic will provide feedback based on a brief engagement with the LSCB and is not a substitute for the continuing work of self-evaluation and improvement of the LSCB.

The LSCB Diagnostic is a structured and standardised process that focuses specifically on the LSCB’s roles and responsibilities. There are four key strands of activity:

- Review of LSCB documents including: business plan, annual report, minutes of the LSCB and sub-committees and other formal reports of the LSCB’s activity e.g. reports to scrutiny and overview committees, Health and Wellbeing Board, learning and development strategy, LSCB training plan and programme, Serious Case Reviews (SCR), other case reviews, Child Death Overview Process annual report and audit and quality assurance work of the LSCB

- Review of quality assurance and performance management arrangements of the LSCB including the LSCB data set and audit programme.

- Interviews with LSCB members and staff, observations of LSCB activities or multi-agency processes to explore issues raised through the review of documentation.

- Feedback presentation and report for the LSCB on the findings from the diagnostic

The programme can also include an Audit Validation exercise as an element to provide additional assurance about the effectiveness of its use of audit to assess and improve practice. Given the focus on the LSCB’s audit and quality assurance work in Ofsted inspections this is a recommended part of the diagnostic.

The diagnostic will use the lines of enquiry set out in appendix 1 as the method to develop feedback and recommendations for the LSCB.

The main findings from the diagnostic will be incorporated into a consolidated feedback report to the LSCB with recommendations on areas needing improvement.

As well as the core elements described above a host LSCB may request additional themes they would like to be included in the diagnostic. These must be agreed with the LGA Diagnostic Manager at the initial set up meeting with sufficient time allowed in the programme. Moreover peer team members must have the necessary knowledge to provide a view on these topics.

Where an LSCB is working with an improvement board it will be important for this relationship to be considered when developing the programme for the LSCB diagnostic.

The LSCB practice diagnostic is an offer to the sector funded by the participating LSCB at a flat all-inclusive fee of £12,000. 2. Basic stages in a LSCB diagnostic

The four strands of the diagnostic will be brought together to provide a consolidated report to the LSCB Chair and the council. The table below provides an integrated timetable for all the strands and should be read in conjunction with the detailed Appendices.

Each diagnostic will have a minimum eight week (40 working days) lead in prior to the on-site diagnostic and the timelines detailed below will need to be strictly adhered to. It is increasingly difficult to source serving officers so a twelve week (60 working days) lead in will be used wherever possible.

Note: It is recognised that if an LSCB is subject to an Ofsted inspection during the preparation phase for a practice diagnostic that this will probably lead to the cancellation or postponement of the diagnostic. This is the only circumstance in which once a diagnostic has been agreed and dates set that cancellation or postponement would be agreed.

| Stage | Day | Action | |-------------------------------------------------|-----|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Initial enquiry | 0 | The LSCB and/or DCS indicate that they may wish to have a diagnostic. An initial discussion takes place between the LSCB chair/DCS and LGA Programme Manager to consider whether a diagnostic is the right option, the specific focus for the diagnostic, the balance of activities in the programme, and whether the audit validation is required. The discussion will also cover proposed dates, peer team requirements and necessary background information. | | Confirmation of peer team | 20 | LGA Programme Manager confirms pre-selected peer team members to the LSCB for the agreed dates | | Submission by the LSCB of documentation and evidence to support the Inspection Information ‘Health Check’ specified at Appendix 2 (also cases for selection if Audit Validation is requested) | 25 | LSCB submits documentation and evidence to the knowledge hub to which the project co-ordinator and peer team will have access. | | LSCB agrees final timetable for the on-site programme and list of LSCB and LSCB sub-group meetings during the period of the diagnostic. | 30 | LSCB submits final timetable to the project co-ordinator for dissemination to the peer team | | Activity | Timeframe | Description | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Offsite analysis of the information health check and writing of an interim report on the findings from the analysis | 35 | Peer team leader for the diagnostic and peer or peers contributing to this diagnostic, undertake the review and analysis of the documentation and produce a draft report and findings to inform the detail of the diagnostic lines of enquiry and interviews to be undertaken. This report contributes to the final report. | | On-site LSCB diagnostic | 40 to 42 | On site information analysis/interviews/visits/focus groups, and audit validation where this option is required. Feedback presentation | | Post diagnostic submission of draft letter to the LSCB by LGA | Within 15 working days of completion of the on-site diagnostic | Diagnostic Manager collates feedback report with peer team leader. Draft letter subject to quality assurance procedures and sent to LSCB Chair for comment within 15 working days of the diagnostic. The letter is copied to the relevant DCS, lead member for children’s services and council Chief Executive for comment. Comments received from LSCB within 10 working days of letter being issued and final version issued to LSCB Chair, host council, regional LGA principal adviser and regional LGA children’s improvement adviser. | | Local Action Planning | Immediately after the Diagnostic | The LSCB is expected to build any areas for action arising from the Diagnostic into its business and improvement plans. The LGA Children’s Safeguarding Adviser contacts the LSCB chair for post-challenge feedback | The final consolidated feedback report

Following the on-site stage, the peer team will compile a report based on the peer diagnostic findings comprising:

- an executive summary of the key issues
- detailed evidence of strengths against each of the lines of enquiry of the diagnostic
- detailed evidence of areas requiring improvement against each of the lines of enquiry of the diagnostic and areas for further consideration
- recommendations for improvement

Post - Diagnostic Feedback

The views of the receiving LSCB are secured through a telephone interview with the LSCB Chair undertaken within three weeks of completion of the on-site diagnostic by the Children’s Safeguarding Adviser (or equivalent).

Action Planning and Review of Impact

The LSCB is expected to build any areas for action arising from the diagnostic into current business and improvement plans. Three to six months after the diagnostic the Children’s Improvement Adviser (or equivalent) will visit the LSCB to discuss the progress and impact following the diagnostic.

Confidentiality

It is vital that the following principles are understood by the LSCB and members of the LSCB diagnostic team and adhered to at all times.

Each party shall keep confidential all confidential information belonging to other parties disclosed or obtained as a result of the relationship of the parties under the LSCB diagnostic and shall not use nor disclose the same save for the purposes of the proper performance of the diagnostic or with the prior written consent of the other party.

The obligations of confidentiality shall not extend to any matter which the parties can show is in or has become part of the public domain other than as a result of a breach of the obligations of confidentiality or was in their written records prior to the date of the peer diagnostic; was independently disclosed to it by a third party; or is required to be disclosed under any applicable law, or by order of a court or governmental body or other competent authority.

Data protection

The LSCB, LGA and LSCB practice diagnostic team members agree that data (including personal data) as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998, relating to the processing of the diagnostic, to the extent that it is reasonably necessary in connection with the diagnostic, may:

(a) be collected and held (in hard copy and computer readable form) and processed by the diagnostic team and (b) may be disclosed or transferred: (i) to the peer diagnostic team members and/or (ii) as otherwise required or permitted by law.

Safe Staffing

Peer team members will be expected to provide evidence that they have a current DBS check. Where a team member does not have a current DBS check the participating council will need to undertake a risk assessment and agree the scope of tasks on the diagnostic that the peer team member can undertake.

Communications and publicity

The purpose of a diagnostic is to promote organisational learning and improved outcomes for children and families. In that context, the LSCB should consider communications and publicity regarding the diagnostic and its findings as early as possible. There is a standard ‘What’s it all about’ leaflet that the diagnostic manager will supply to the LSCB to act as a basis for communications with staff.

The final report will be sent to the LSCB Chair and copied to the relevant DCS, lead member for children’s services and council Chief Executive. Although the final report is the property of the receiving LSCB and is not published by the LGA, its purpose is to enable improvement and learning; it is not a document intended to be kept a secret. Although untested, it is unlikely that a Freedom of Information request for the final report could be resisted. It is safest to presume from the outset that the report will be shared and plan to manage this positively.

The LSCB will want to consider where and when the outcome of the diagnostic will be discussed e.g. by the children’s partnership. If the final report is to be considered by the council executive or a scrutiny committee or the equivalent governance bodies of NHS organisations or the Health and Wellbeing Board it will become a public document.

In any subsequent inspection of the LSCB Ofsted and other inspectorates, if this is a multi-agency inspection, are likely to ask to see a copy of the report and request information about any actions taken in response. 3. The peer diagnostic team

The LGA convenes a team to deliver each peer diagnostic. Each member of the team should have a particular focus but they work together as a team to provide consolidated feedback to the LSCB. A LSCB will select dates for their diagnostic and will then accept the pre-selected peers as their diagnostic team (only in exceptional circumstances will there be a revision to a specific peer(s)). The team will be as follows:

| Team member | Number of days involvement | |-------------|---------------------------| | **Team Leader: Review of documentation**<br>A senior professional with experience as an LSCB chair or at assistant director level who will act as Team Leader and undertake the review of the core LSCB documentation. | Six (one/ two day pre-analysis, three on site, one final report preparation) | | **Professional Peer 1: Review of documentation.**<br>An operational manager/senior practitioner from an LSCB statutory agency who will undertake the review of the core LSCB documentation alongside the team leader. This peer may have an agreed focus on one or more areas e.g. training and learning and development or audit validation (if this element is included) or vulnerable groups. | Five (1 day pre-analysis, three days on site, preparation and contribution to final report) | | **Professional Peer 2: Review of documentation/Audit Validation**<br>An operational manager/senior practitioner from an LSCB agency or an LSCB Chair who will review the LSCB documentation. This peer may have an agreed focus on one or more areas e.g. training and learning and development or audit validation (if this element is included) or vulnerable groups. | Five (1 day pre-analysis, three days on site, preparation and contribution to final report) | | **Professional Peer 3: Review of documentation.**<br>An operational manager/senior practitioner from an LSCB statutory agency or an LSCB Chair who will undertake the review of the core LSCB documentation alongside the team leader. This peer may have an agreed focus on one or more areas e.g. training and learning and development or vulnerable groups. | Five (1 day pre-analysis, three days on site, preparation and contribution to final report) | The LGA Diagnostic Manager: An LGA diagnostic manager with experience of children’s safeguarding peer products to provide quality assurance, capture learning and manage all liaisons between the peer team and the LSCB.

Seven days (three on site, other site meetings, preparation and collating final report with peer team leader)

(Dependent upon agreed scope for the diagnostic operational peers could be a local authority safeguarding officer, a LSCB business manager or a multi-agency partner e.g. Police, Heath)

In addition a project co-ordinator will be appointed to assist with logistical arrangements, dissemination of documentation, payment of expenses etc. S/he will not attend the on-site work.

The programme manager for the LSCB practice diagnostic will be the current LGA programme manager for the safeguarding children peer review programme to ensure a co-ordinated approach to all sector support requests and to deployment of peers.

The LGA Programme Manager (Children’s Services) and the Children’s Safeguarding Adviser (or equivalent) will provide the quality assurance role for review of all consolidated reports prior to submission to the council. It is anticipated that regular programme review meetings will be established led by the LGA programme manager. Appendix 1

LSCB Lines of Enquiry

1. Board effectiveness

How do the LSCB and partners demonstrate that:

1. The Board has effective governance and accountability arrangements including:

   - All partners are engaged with and are active in safeguarding and child protection, working effectively, both individually and collectively, to fulfil their statutory responsibilities and deliver local priorities;
   - There is an ambitious and clear vision with explicit priorities which reflect the statutory responsibilities of partners and the scale of the challenges faced as regards safeguarding children and which is informed by children, young people and families;
   - Partners are working together within effective governance arrangements to ensure effective early help, taking a whole family approach that ensures the engagement of all relevant partners e.g. housing, benefits, adult services, health etc;
   - The LSCB business and training plan clearly identifies outcomes, is aligned with other children plans and identifies how the LSCB holds its partner agencies to account;
   - The LSCB has developed how it engages with children and young people and can demonstrate how their voices and views are heard and influence local policy and practice;
   - The organisational structure of the board and its sub-groups is effective in supporting the Board to deliver its statutory responsibilities and the priorities set out in the business plan;
   - There is transparency between all agencies on the resources and budgets allocated for safeguarding and child protection.

2. The Board has effective relationships with other governance bodies:

   - The LSCB leads the multi-agency work on safeguarding children through working effectively with the health and wellbeing board and other partnerships e.g. Children’s Trust, Corporate Parenting Board, Youth Offending Service Board and the Police and Crime Commissioner and ensures they have an appropriate focus on safeguarding (it is acknowledged that there is an explicit protocol detailing the relationship with an Improvement Board where relevant).

3. The chair and board have effective relationships with the LA Chief Executive, DCS and Lead Member for Children’s services and the mechanisms to support those relationships are in place.

4. The LSCB has the resources and infrastructure it needs to perform its functions:

- The core infrastructure of the LSCB is funded so that the board can fulfil its statutory functions;
- The Board can match the priorities in its business plan with the resources available.

4. The Board is visible and influential including through participation in service planning:

- Priorities are based on a good understanding of locally determined needs, the voices of children and young people and national strategies and priorities;
- The LSCB has played a leadership role in and contributed to the development of an effective commissioning framework that gives priority to safeguarding and protecting children and that has been agreed, is supported by all partners, reflects the views of children, young people and families and the diversity of the communities served;
- There is evidence of the influence and impact of the LSCB’s work in key partnerships e.g. HWBB and in setting the overall safeguarding agenda locally;
- The board is active in promoting its role with partners and with the wider community.

6. The Board has developed a positive culture of open dialogue, trust and capacity to challenge and critically appraise its own work and that of its constituent partners.

7. Quality Assurance and Performance Management

How do the LSCB and partners demonstrate that they:

- Hold individual partners to account and partners hold each other to account for their contribution to the safeguarding and protection of children e.g. section11 audits;
- Have established means to performance manage the local safeguarding and child protection system using quantitative and qualitative information;
- Regularly and effectively monitors and evaluates frontline practice and identify where improvement is required through programmes of multi-agency and single agency audit;
- The LSCB knows how effectively it’s agreed thresholds policy is being implemented locally;
- Can evidence through board or sub-group minutes or a log how it is challenging partners on performance;
- Contribute effectively to the overall performance management framework for children’s services and challenges performance across partner agencies, ensuring that action is taken at organisational level, in services and individually, to address underperformance.

3. Compliance with Working Together 2015

How do the LSCB and partners demonstrate that:

- There is an annual report with a rigorous and transparent assessment of performance and effectiveness of local services that identifies areas and causes of weakness and action taken to address these;
- There is an early help framework in place and the LSCB knows how effectively early help is being delivered locally;
- There is a learning and improvement framework in place which is having an impact on practice;
- The Requirements to undertake serious case reviews and other reviews are met and that such reviews lead to learning which has an impact on practice;
- The LSCB is meeting the statutory requirements in respect to child sexual exploitation;
- There are agreed policies and procedures in place;
- There is a culture of learning from evidence-based practice and from research, inspections, complaints and serious case reviews;
- The LSCB is effective in contributing to the development of a sufficiently skilled, trained and supported workforce for children’s services through the implementation of a multi-agency training strategy;
- Training reinforces the importance of child centred practice which focuses on improving outcomes.

4. Key Safeguarding Risk Areas

How does the board demonstrate the impact of its work with key vulnerable groups such as:

- Children living away from home including looked after children, privately posterred children, children in custody, children in hospital for long periods and unaccompanied asylum seeking children;
- Children who go missing;
- Children at risk of Sexual Exploitation;
- Children at risk of Female Genital Mutilation;
- Children who are disabled;
- Children living with domestic violence.

And on current safeguarding issues such as:

- Response to neglect;
- Familial sexual abuse;
- Abuse linked to gang activity.

5. Additional lines of enquiry and amendments to the standard lines of enquiry

The LSCB commissioning the diagnostic should be asked to identify:

- any additional lines of enquiry they want the peer team to explore e.g. substance misuse, parental mental health, learning disability;
- whether they want a particular focus on any of the standard lines of enquiry;
- whether any of the standard lines of enquiry are not a priority for the diagnostic and should not be pursued.

This is to enable the LSCB to ensure the diagnostic is tailored to its needs. Appendix 2 – Information for the LSCB diagnostic

The diagnostic team will use the information specified below to undertake a desktop evaluation of the LSCB’s work. They will evaluate against the framework provided by the lines of enquiry and probes set out in Appendix 1. This review covers all the information required from the LSCB in annex A of the Framework and evaluation schedule for the inspection of services for children in need of help and protection, children looked after and care leavers and some additional documents.

The LSCB can specify additional documents, e.g. strategies for tackling particular safeguarding issues such as CSE, neglect, for review as part of the development of the detailed specification for the diagnostic so that the document review is tailored to the needs of each LSCB.

Documents to be reviewed:

01. Minutes of LSCB meetings from the previous 12 months (including executive board meetings where applicable)
02. Structure of LSCB and sub-groups; names and contact details for LSCB members
03. Sub-group minutes for 6 months
04. Any evaluation of multi-agency safeguarding training and the LSCB training strategy and plan
05. Any serious case reviews and their action plans
06. Any recent audit and quality assurance work undertaken by the LSCB
07. The learning and improvement framework
08. The Child Death Overview Process annual report
09. LSCB business plan
10. LSCB annual report
11. LSCB reports to scrutiny and overview committees and Health and Wellbeing Board
12. Performance management reports prepared for the LSCB and the performance management strategy of the LSCB
13. Response to any relevant Ofsted reports

Method

Fifteen (15) working days before the on-site stage the LSCB will send the LGA Diagnostic Manager, project co-ordinator and Team Leader for placement on the LGA Knowledge Hub, those documents that it would submit to meet items 1-13 above and any additional documents agreed to be part of the review. The LSCB will provide hard copies of the documents in the Team Base Room.

The Team Leader and one of the peers will review those documents and use them to develop an evaluation of the LSCB’s work against the core themes for the diagnostic. All peers are expected to familiarise themselves with the documentation.

The draft report from this work should be available before the start of the on-site phase of the diagnostic. The document review will give feedback on the extent to which compliance with the Ofsted information requirements has been demonstrated, using the analytical framework below. The Team Leader will produce a summary of the findings from the document review that will be included in the consolidated report to the LSCB. The LSCB may commission a more detailed commentary on the documentation as an additional part of the diagnostic.

During the on-site stage the Team Leader will interview the Chair of the Local Safeguarding Children Board, leading members of the LSCB and other relevant personnel. One area of focus for the interviews will be on the extent to which the documentation enables them to demonstrate that they meet their local assurance requirement responsibilities – in particular, what else do they do to ensure they know ‘whether the LSCB is effective in keeping children and young people safe?’. The lines of enquiry and probes set out in Appendix 1 will be used to structure these interviews.

### Points to consider for the analysis of the documents:

- Does the documentation cover the full scope of the information required? Are there any gaps or other aspects to be considered?
- Is the documentation clear and easy to follow?
- Does it tell the story of the LSCB’s work and its impact effectively?
- What is the quality of data, performance information and other evidence?
- Identify any inconsistencies and performance risk issues arising from the data.
- Identify key follow up questions for the 'on-site' stage interviews with Lead Member, DCS, AD Safeguarding and Chair of LSCB

### Overall Analysis

- Summarise overall strengths and areas to develop, commenting in particular on: whether the LSCB is meeting its statutory responsibilities and complies with Working Together, the quality of analysis and evidence, and the extent to which the documentation provides a coherent view of the effectiveness of the LSCB’s leadership of multi-agency work to safeguard and protect children. | Document | Meets Requirements? | Comments on Strengths and Areas to Develop | Performance Risk Issues Identified | Questions for Local Assurance Follow Up Interviews | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------| | 1. Minutes of LSCB meetings from the previous 12 months (including executive board meetings where applicable) | | | | | | 2. Structure of LSCB and sub-groups; names and contact details for LSCB members | | | | | | 3. Sub-group minutes | | | | | | 4. Any evaluation of multi-agency safeguarding training and the LSCB training strategy and plan | | | | | | 5. Any serious case reviews and their action plans | | | | | | | | | | |---|---|---|---| | 6. | Any recent audit and quality assurance work undertaken by the LSCB | | | | 7. | The learning and improvement framework | | | | 8. | The Child Death Overview Process annual report | | | | 9. | LSCB Business plan | | | | 10. | LSCB annual report | | | | 11. | LSCB reports to scrutiny and overview committees and Health and Wellbeing Board | | | | 12. | Performance management reports prepared for the LSCB and the | | | | performance management strategy of the LSCB | |-------------------------------------------| | 13. Any other documents reviewed |

**INSPECTION INFORMATION HEALTH CHECK – OVERALL ANALYSIS**

**Strengths**

**Areas for Development** Appendix 3 - Audit Validation (Recommended)

Overview and purpose:

This strand will examine how the LSCB uses multi-agency case audit to assess and improve the quality of practice, particularly emphasising a proper focus on the ‘child’s journey’, reflective practice, and good joint working between the key agencies. The diagnostic team will review a sample of multiagency case audits undertaken by the LSCB and provide an overview report to answer three key questions:

I. How effective is the local multi-agency audit process in assessing the quality of practice including practice in early help?

II. How well are audit reports used by the LSCB and partners?

III. What action is taken in response to audit reports?

The diagnostic team will review at least five multi-agency audits from a sample of 20 cases drawn from a list of cases provided by the LSCB where a multi-agency audit had taken place in the previous six months.

Approach:

The exercise must be conducted in accordance with the principles set out in this manual as regards personal data, data protection, confidentiality and safe staffing.

15 working days ahead of the on-site stage the LSCB will provide a list of 20 cases that have been audited on a multi-agency basis during the previous six months. The LGA diagnostic manager will then choose five cases randomly from the list to be reviewed. The diagnostic team will:

- Review the methodology for undertaking multi-agency audits
- Assess the quality and rigour of the multi-agency audits undertaken, including how accurately the case audit has been able to assess the quality of practice in the case examples. Note: ideally these first two parts of the audit validation exercise should be undertaken in advance of the on-site diagnostic work.
- Hold conversations with practitioners and their managers about the cases and their experience and the impact of taking part in multi-agency audits. This will need to be arranged with the LSCB prior to the on-site stage. It is very important that the conversations with staff are conducted in keeping with the spirit of the peer challenge i.e. as a supportive critical friend and not as an inspector.
- The diagnostic team should examine the reports received by the LSCB as a result of case audits, comment on the extent to which the reports assist the LSCB in driving improvement in the quality of practice, assess the extent to which the LSCB makes effective use of the reports they receive and the audit reports result in timely action.
- Prepare a summary for the feedback presentation and a report with the team’s findings which summarises the strengths and areas for consideration of how the LSCB uses case audit to assess and improve the quality of practice. This report should address the three key questions above.

**Undertaking the Multi-agency Audit**

Undertaking multi-agency audits is more complex than auditing the records of a single agency.

As a minimum the audit needs to review:

- Accuracy of basic case details
- Quality of assessment, analysis and care planning
- Impact of the interventions
- Quality of multi-agency work
- Voice and participation of the child and family.

The following template expects a level of detail which it may well not be realistic to expect from a multi-agency audit. The audit validation needs to consider whether whatever method the LSCB is using is sufficiently rigorous to enable the LSCB to have an accurate picture of multi-agency practice.

a. Detailed Audit Template (see next page) | Practice area | What to look for | |--------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | **Basic information** | The case audit should identify if basic information about the family has been provided on agency files. This would include case details such as ethnicity of children, family relationships, the key concerns or difficulties that families are facing. | | **Effectiveness of current and previous interventions** | The case audit should be able to identify the impact of previous and current intervention, whether it has been positive and achieved desired changes within the family. If possible the case audit should be able to identify particular factors associated with the success of any help the family have received. A good case audit should be able to separate out the contribution of both the competence of the professionals involved and the actual intervention itself and how it helped. | | **Assessment of need and analysis – have risk and protective factors been considered?** | The case audit should be able to identify clearly the risk factors that impact on the child in the family, for example, domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse, mental health problems, isolation etc. The case audit should also be able to see if protective factors have been considered by the agencies involved. It should be possible for the case audit to identify how the risk and protective factors have been balanced to produce a good multi-agency assessment which looks not only at the difficulties within the family but also at their strengths. The case audit may focus on the quality of the analysis provided in assessments. | | **Service response** | The case audit should be able to identify whether the multi-agency service response has been efficient and timely. This needs to consider whether the response form universal services was timely and such services sought additional help and advice for the child at the right time. Where a referral has been made to targeted and specialist services this will include whether the agencies acted promptly, kept the referrer informed of actions, and took appropriate action following the referral or receipt of new information. | | **Effective planning and review** | Case audits will often look at care plans, child protection plans and other documents which set down plans for a child. The case audit should be able to identify if such plans are child centred, have clear and measurable objectives and identify who is doing what and when. The case audit should look at the timeliness and effectiveness of reviews of care plans. | | **A child-centred approach including attention to equality and diversity** | The case audit should look at whether the child has been seen and his or her views considered in decisions and case planning by each agency and in the context of agency practice in engaging children and young people. The audit should look at evidence of practice which pays attention to a child’s individual needs, and the response to factors relating to their age, ethnicity, or disability. | | --- | --- | | **Multi-agency involvement** | The case audit should look at the effectiveness of multi-agency working and the impact on the case of other agency involvement. Communication and information sharing will be key elements which should be considered by the case audit. Specific difficulties within and between agencies should be identified in order to identify themes and patterns which may emerge across a number of cases. | | **Building a trusted and effective relationship** | The case audit should be able to comment on the extent to which the family are involved in decision making and planning and the skill of the practitioners in building a relationship with the child and family. Particular features for example, proactive approaches to involving extended family in safeguarding or the involvement of fathers, may be pertinent in some cases and would be expected to be considered within the case audit. | | **Management, supervision and oversight of practice** | Most agencies will require evidence of supervision on the case file itself and in these instances the case audit template should include attention to supervision notes or management direction and sign off at various stages. However the agency may use other mechanisms for checking the quality of supervision which are outside any case file audit and which should be considered. In particular it is unlikely that any critical reflection activity will be documented on the case file but would be an important element of supervision. | | **Quality of case recording** | The case audit should look at the standard of case recording including factors such as clarity of information, concise report writing, up-to-date entries in the file, recording of basic information, and the presence of key documents e.g. chronologies, core assessments, developmental assessments, records of attendance and attainment etc. | | **Process monitoring** | There are various processes which need to operate smoothly to support good practice. In particular, child protection procedures being implemented in line with statutory guidance but also other organisational processes such as case allocation, transfer, use of threshold criteria and referral to other agencies or colleagues within an | agency e.g. referral to specialist colleagues within NHS agencies. The case audit should consider how well these processes have been followed in any one case.

b) Reports received by the LSCB

The peer should examine the reports received as a result of case audits and should consider the following factors:

01. How well have patterns and themes been identified in the case audit report?
02. How detailed is the report and does it provide concise findings which are accessible to the reader?
03. What is the time lag between the audits being carried out and the report being received by the LSCB?
04. Do the reports provide a good balance between quantitative, qualitative and outcome measures?
05. To what extent do the reports focus on quality of practice and the impact on families?
06. Is it possible to identify effective interventions with families and the skills of practitioners in helping children and their families to achieve improved outcomes?
07. Is it possible to identify shortfalls in practice in different parts of the services or even down to individual practitioners and if so, are there any contextual issues that should be considered, for example staff shortages or other resource issues?
08. Is good practice recognised and if so, to what level of detail?
09. Is there a clear set of recommendations in the report and are they ‘specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely’ (SMART)?
10. Have case audits been directed at priority areas of concern for the LSCB?

c) Actions taken in response to case audit reports

The peer should establish the following, primarily through interview with managers and quality assurance staff, but also by looking for written evidence of the way the whole process operates:

1. Is there evidence that recommendations have been acted on?

2. Is there a structure for regular monitoring of audits with follow up checks that actions have been completed?

3. How are learning feedback loops built in to the case audit and to what extent do the lessons from audits reach front line managers and practitioners?

4. Are there any mechanisms for receiving feedback about the service from children and families, and if so, are they aligned with the findings from case audits?

This work in tracking what has been done with audits and reports on audits and what difference the audit work has made to practice needs to be given equal emphasis with consideration of the audits themselves. Appendix 4 – Key LSCB responsibilities

The LSCB should be aware of its responsibilities when requesting a diagnostic. These can be summarised as follows:

- identification of a Diagnostic sponsor and Diagnostic Organiser
- attendance at an initial discussion meeting by the LSCB Chair and Director of Children’s Services, diagnostic organiser and, if possible, the lead member for children’s services and another member of the LSCB from a key partner agency i.e. NHS or Police
- assurance that key personnel will be available and participate as required in each strand of the diagnostic
- organisation of the interview schedule in conjunction with the LGA Diagnostic Manager and ensuring that people will attend – this should be completed and finalised with the Diagnostic Manager one week before the on-site stage
- provision of all relevant data and documentation
- provision of a base room for the peer team for the duration of the on-site stage, including the provision of computers and appropriate refreshments, including lunch arrangements
- provision of suitable rooms for all interviews (people’s individual offices are fine for these)
- ensure that comments on the draft feedback report are returned within ten working days
- contribute to the feedback and evaluation process.

Team base room

The LSCB must ensure that there is a suitable base room for the team throughout the on-site stage. This must be close to where the bulk of the on-site interviews will be held. The team will spend a considerable amount of time in this room and so consideration should be given to ensuring that it is large enough to accommodate comfortably all members of the team, equipment and has adequate light and ventilation.

The room must be for the sole use of the team members, with all interviews being held elsewhere. It needs to be private and lockable, with sets of keys for team members going in and out at different times. It also needs to be accessible to the team after hours. The room will need to be equipped with the following:

- a telephone
- one computer with access to the internet and the council’s Intranet, email system and case records system for each of the four peers
- a high-speed, good-quality black and white printer
- access to a nearby photocopier
- two flipcharts with marker pens and replacement paper (flip charts should be able to be hung on the walls)
- a central meeting table providing adequate room for each person on the team • Blu-tack and post-its.

Appendix 5 – On-site Programme

The on-site stage is the ‘centre piece’ of the whole diagnostic process. Its smooth operation is vital to the success of the diagnostic and requires careful planning. It is essential that during the preparation of this stage there is good liaison between the LSCB Diagnostic Organiser and the LGA Diagnostic Manager (who will advise on practicalities etc.). The timetable should be finalised no later than two weeks before the actual on-site stage commences.

Practical timetable pointers

Compiling the programme and taking into account all diary commitments of those involved, practical arrangements, etc. can be time consuming. It is strongly suggested that this work is commenced as soon as possible with a rough draft being given to the LGA Diagnostic Manager at an early stage so that s/he can advise on any practical difficulties they can foresee.

Individual interviews should be scheduled for one hour. In practice the peer team should interview for three quarters of an hour and use the remaining time to allow for crossover of teams, note writing etc. Where interviews are away from where the team are based adequate travel time needs to be built into the programme.

Parking arrangements for the team while on site should be in place.

If it’s not possible for an interviewee to be on-site, a phone call may be acceptable if agreed with the Diagnostic Manager beforehand.

The team will need to meet together at stages of the diagnostic to compare notes, ask for additional information, etc. Slots for this need to be built into the timetable.

A ‘no surprises’ policy should be adopted throughout the diagnostic. This means the host LSCB chair and DCS should be provided with regular feedback on the key issues emerging during the on-site work and scheduled in the timetable. There should be opportunities to resolve any outstanding issues whilst the team are on-site, this may include clarification of a finding or asking if any additional information could modify the peer team view.

In order to cover as much ground as possible, the timetable may include evening sessions, but be careful people aren’t too overloaded.

Practicalities of transport to and from the team base and the team hotel should also be taken into account.

Peer teams need breaks for lunch and comfort breaks! Peer teams should not arrange to see individual children or groups of children and young people during the on-site stage unless specifically agreed with the local authority as part of the agreed scope.

Sample on-site programme

The timetable below gives an indication of how an on-site programme may look, however, each practice diagnostic will be different and the timetable will reflect the scope agreed with the host authority. The programme needs to be flexible so that it can be adjusted during the on-site programme to reflect developing lines of enquiry or changing priorities during the work.

For each interview, the LSCB should supply name/s, job title/s and location.

Peers will broadly have the following duties:

Team Leader – off site information check and report, interviews and focus groups

Operational Peer 1 – off site information check and report, interviews and focus groups

Operational Peer 2 – interviews and focus groups and audit validation if required

Operational Peer 3 – interviews and focus groups and audit validation

All peers will review the LSCB information prior to the start of the on-site work as part of their preparation work.

Each peer may also be assigned an area of focus for the diagnostic which reflects one or more of the main areas of KLOE and any additional areas the LSCB has identified.

It is helpful if the on-site diagnostic can be scheduled to tie in with a scheduled LSCB meeting. Peers will attend the LSCB meeting and a time slot should be agreed (30-45 minutes) to allow the peers to question all Board Members (the LSCB Chair may wish to leave the meeting for this session to facilitate frank and open dialogue).

LGA Diagnostic Manager – Interviews with the Team Leader/on their own, facilitation of Focus Groups, visits and organisation of all activities to ensure adherence to timetable.

### Day 1 Note: Example Schedule only

| TIME | Peer | Peer | Peer | Team Leader and/or LGA Diagnostic Manager | |------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | 08.30-10.00| Team shown to base room, domestic arrangements etc. | Team shown to base room, domestic arrangements etc. | Team shown to base room, domestic arrangements etc. | Team shown to base room, domestic arrangements etc. | | 10.00-11.00| LSCB Chair | Peer will examine the case audit process and examples of completed case audits that have been audited by different managers (Recommended) | Group discussion with board members/sub-group | LSCB Chair | | 11.00 – 12.00| Group discussion with board members/sub-group | As above | Focus on theme e.g. C & YP engagement, CSE, Vulnerable groups | Director of children's services | | 12.00 – 13.00| LSCB Business Manager | As above | IROs group | LSCB Business Manager | | 13.00 – 13.30| Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | | 13.30 – 14.30| Interview with LSCB partner (Health) | Interview with LSCB partner (Health) | Interview with LSCB partner DV lead | Council Chief executive | | Time | Activity | |--------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14.30-15.30 | Interview with LSCB partner (Police) | | | Interview with LSCB partner (Police) | | | Interview with LSCB partner Probation | | | Lead Member for Children’s Services | | 15.30 – 16.00| Break | | | Break | | | Break | | | Break | | 16.00 - 17.00| Assistant Director of Safeguarding | | | Multi-agency audit group | | | Multi-agency audit group | | | Assistant director of safeguarding | | 17.00-18.00 | Team meeting | | | Team meeting | | | Team meeting | | | Team meeting | | 18.00 – 18.30| Day One feedback to LSCB Chair/DCS/Business Manager |

### Day 2 – Example Schedule only

| TIME | Peer | Peer | Peer | Team Leader and/or LGA Diagnostic Manager | |------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------| | 08.30-9.00 | Team arrive | Team arrive | Team arrive | Team arrive | | 9.00-10.00 | Chair of Health and Wellbeing Board | LSCB Evaluative Discussion ? Engagement audit or other structured activity with the LSCB | LSCB Evaluative Discussion ? Engagement audit or other structured activity with the LSCB | Chair of Health and Wellbeing Board | | 10.00-11.00| Focus Group of LSCB lay members | LSCB Evaluative Discussion ? Engagement audit or other structured activity with the LSCB | LSCB Evaluative Discussion ? Engagement audit or other structured activity with the LSCB | Focus Group of LSCB lay members | | 11.00-12.30| Commissioned visit | Audit of case records (Recommended) | Interview Chairs of sub-groups | Chair of Scrutiny | | 12.30-13.15| Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | Lunch | | 13.15 – 14.30| Interview Headteacher group | As above | Interview Headteacher group | Interview with LSCB partner | | Time | Activity | Person/Group | |--------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14.30 – 15.30| LSCB Training Manager | QA Manager (Performance/Audit/Serious Case Reviews) | | | | Multi-agency practitioner group – early help | | | | Chair Child Death Overview panel | | 15.30-16.00 | Break | Break | | | | Break | | 16.00 – 17.00| Interview with LSCB partner | Interview with LSCB partner | | | | Focus on theme e.g. C & YP engagement, CSE, Vulnerable groups | | | | Commissioned visit | | 17.00 – 18.00| Team Meeting | Team Meeting | | | | Team Meeting | | 18.00-18.30 | | Day Two feedback to LSCB Chair/DCS/Business Manager |

### Day 3

| TIME | Whole Team | |------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 08.30-9.00 | Team shown to base room, domestic arrangements etc. | | 9.00-12.30 | Diagnostic Team prepare findings from evidence base | | 12.30-13.00| LUNCH | | 13.00-14.00| Draft Presentation to LSCB Chair/DCS and other senior managers (‘dummy run’) | | 14.00-15.15| Presentation to selected delegates from the LSCB (to include multi-agency partners) followed by dialogue | Appendix 6 – The feedback presentation

The process and purpose

The final phase of the on-site stage of the diagnostic will be a feedback presentation from the team, immediate questions for clarification etc.

The structure of the presentation will be a slide for each of the bullet points below. Each of the ‘findings’ slides should be explicit regarding the good practice found and where areas requiring improvement have been identified.

- Introduction to the team
- Purpose of a LSCB diagnostic
- Main findings (overall messages)
- Detailed evidence of strengths against each of the lines of enquiry of the diagnostic
- Detailed evidence of areas requiring improvement against each of the lines of enquiry of the diagnostic and areas for further consideration
- Information Health Check detailed findings (strengths and areas requiring improvement)
- Audit Validation (Recommended) detailed findings (strengths and areas requiring improvement)
- Recommendations Appendix 7 – Final report

After the on-site stage, the LSCB Chair and Director of Children’s Services will be sent a final report no later than 15 working days after the diagnostic. This letter is not intended to be a comprehensive report. It should be an easy to read summary of the main findings of the diagnostic.

The structure of the final report is as follows:

- Introduction: short introduction
- Executive Summary: a narrative executive summary of the main review findings (followed by bullet points from ‘Main findings’ slide)
- Detailed evidence of strengths against each of the lines of enquiry of the diagnostic
- Detailed evidence of areas requiring improvement against each of the lines of enquiry of the diagnostic and areas for further consideration
- Audit Validation (Recommended) detailed findings (strengths and areas requiring improvement)
- Recommendations for improvement
- Closing paragraph and thanks to host council

The LGA Diagnostic Manager in conjunction with the peer team leader should prepare a draft of this report and submit it to the team for comment. The Diagnostic Manager should send the draft to the LGA Programme Manager (Children’s Services) and the LGA Children’s Safeguarding Adviser for quality assurance, copying also to the relevant LGA Principal Adviser and regional CIA.

The draft letter will be sent to the Chair of the LSCB and copied to the relevant DCS, lead member for children’s services and council Chief Executive for comment.

The LSCB will submit comments on the draft letter within ten (10) working days of receipt of the letter to facilitate agreement of the final version.

Once all comments have been taken into account, the letter will be issued to the chair of the LSCB by the LGA Safeguarding Programme Manager. A copy will be sent to the lead member, chief executive, DCS and the LGA principal adviser.